Things To Consider When Transitioning to a Plant-Based Diet
Part 1: Nutrition and Healthcare
This is a two-part article that will feed into a series of stories from my personal research into plant-based nutrition and well-being. In this research, my goal is to find out how to be healthy while eating mostly plants.
Information in this article will be most valuable for those who are considering or are already in the process of switching to a plant-based diet and for those who are seeking to widen their understanding of nutrition and health. I believe that the personal experience I share here will provide you with helpful insights for a smoother transition to plant-based energy.
Indeed, everything I have written here comes from my personal experience of going from traditional Ukrainian diet rich in meat and dairy to a vegetarian, then to a vegan, and finally to experimenting with eating raw foods. All within ten years (at the time of writing this I am 33.). However, getting an undiagnosed autoimmune condition about 1.5 years ago forced me to do an in-depth review of my nutrition.
The truth to be told, I don’t know if my nutrition was the main reason why got sick (I will mention other potential causes further in this article). Whatever the case may be, the plant-based diet did not save me from the disease.
The upside of this experience though, is that it has provided plenty of opportunities for hands-on learning and improvement of my nutrition and overall well-being. As a result, over the past year, I learned several humbling lessons and insights on food and veganism that I wish I realised earlier. I hope that those who read this will learn from my mistakes and will consider a more holistic approach to food and health. One of the goals of this research is to encourage others to do a more educated transition to a healthy plant-based diet.
Here I share my key lessons and insights on nutrition and health and Part Two of the article is dedicated to my insights on vegan culture.
Lessons on Nutrition
It’s not just about what you stop eating. What you add to your diet matters just as much
When I stopped eating dairy three years ago I went big on various nuts, legumes, and gluten-containing products (i.e. oats and bread) to compensate for the decrease of intake of protein and fat. Little did I know at that time, that those were the foods that cause the most inflammation in my body. A food sensitivities test I did after getting ill turned out to be pretty informative.
Even though I know that there is no consensus about the accuracy and validity of these tests, from my personal experience, however, the results of my test have been surprisingly accurate.
While going through what seems to be an autoimmune condition I am able to observe that foods which showed up as highly inflammatory on my test results (sensitivity score 3 and 4) are worsening my symptoms of autonomic dysfunction (difficulties of breathing), as well as the condition of my skin (more inflammation and rash). And avoiding them make the symptoms to calm down quite a bit. In fact, I can not eat a lot of foods with a sensitivity score 2 either. Currently, most of the foods I eat have a sensitivity score of 0, and a little of those with a score of 1.
Food sensitivities are probably not an issue for a healthy individual, who can eat a variety of foods and feel fine. But if you are not well or have energy problems (especially after meals), or you are planning a significant change in your diet (such as switching to plant-based nutrition), then taking a food sensitivity test may be one of the most important things you can do to manage risks. You will learn so much.
How and when you eat, is as important as what you eat
Strong advice that I keep hearing from dietitians I consulted with over the past year, is to do your diet changes gradually over a considerable period of time. The idea behind this is that our bodies got used to working on certain foods from early childhood. So a sudden major change in fuel sources can have severe consequences for the immune and digestive systems. Making a transition gradual will also enable you to observe how your body reacts when you stop eating some foods, as well as its reaction to any new foods you introduce.
Also, I would like to repeat here some common-sense advice for good nutrition. Such as, your plant-based diet needs to be well balanced and rich in nutrients that your body requires to be healthy. Eating falafel, french fries, and drinking cola is technically a plant-based diet. But you probably want to do better than that. A diet rich in a variety of whole foods is something your body will thank you for.
Organic, not processed ingredients are probably the best, as they usually have less artificial chemicals and pesticides that can cause inflammation in the human body. Again, a healthy individual may be indifferent to such concerns. But it’s a different story when you get a disease. At which point you will want to eliminate everything that has any risk of causing inflammation. Perhaps, for many of us eating organic food could prevent us from getting sick in the first place. Just listen to this mind-blowing podcast with Dr Zuch Bush MD for more insights on how damaging non-organic food can be.
When you eat can have a big effect on your health too. We used to think that having a proper breakfast and small meals throughout the day is a good thing. Now scientists and dietitians tell us that it is not and that we should allow 5-hour windows between meals or 16 hours without any food for the body to cleanse and repair. You could look into intermittent fasting or another eating regime that can provide guidelines for a healthy eating schedule. But ultimately, you will need to figure out what works for your body.
Why did I decide to go plant-based in the first place?
I am 33 now. I grew up in a village in the west of Ukraine. As far as I can remember, I had always felt a sense of horror when I witnessed animals being killed (especially those I used to take care of) and I felt a sense of guilt for eating meat, although at the time I was trying my best not to think about it.
After moving to Kyiv at age 18, I gradually started avoiding eating meat. Within three years I had completely eliminated red meat from my diet, and over the next 10 years I had successfully moved to a vegetarian, and later to a fully plant-based diet and have experienced numerous benefits, including improved digestion and mental clarity.
One thing that hasn’t changed during all this time though, is my energy level. It has varied greatly, just as it did before I stopped eating meat. After reading a few books on raw foods, I significantly increased the percentage of raw foods in my diet with a hope that it will give me more energy. But I had to stop after a few months when I started to feel worse.
Raw food maybe not for everyone
This is a point I am still struggling with, but here is my best understanding at this moment in time. There is a concept in Ayurveda called the digestive fire (jataragni). It can be compared to the bonfire (an analogy shared by a Russian blogger Igor Budnikov). When the bonfire is strong, you can throw pretty large logs at it, or even some dump wood, and it will consume it. But it’s another story when the fire is weak. Some raw foods can be like dump wood for a weak digestive system.
Yes, it makes sense that raw foods can provide more nutrients while not having by-products of thermal processing. Fruits and some vegetables and salads are usually the easiest foods for the body to digest. But other foods like nuts, oils, soaked oats, or buckwheat can be a different story. When the digestive fire is weak, eating such foods on a regular basis can potentially cause some severe problems for the gut and the immune system as they may get in the gut partly undigested. Many dietitians warn that autoimmune disorders can develop as a result of a leaky gut.
To sum up the lessons on nutrition: a switchover to a plant-based diet does involve more than just removing animal foods from your meals. For best results, it should be approached as a carefully planned research project. This is a kind of things where “just do it” strategy can be dangerous for your health. And if you are looking to introduce more of raw foods into your diet make sure you know what you are doing and be extra careful.
Lessons on Healthcare
Healthy eating is not insurance against every disease
Food sensitivities and experiments with raw foods aside, for several years I have been eating what commonly regarded to be a well-balanced diet. I was making sure to eat a variety of different foods and a reasonable amount of greens. I would make green smoothies and salads with spinach and kale that I grew in my auntie’s garden. I would add organic apple cider vinegar to my salad and water. In addition, I used to take good quality multivitamins, as well as plant-based Omega-3, liquid, Vitamin D, B12 drops, probiotics, highly absorbable iron supplement, vitamin-C, turmeric and some other supplements that were all supposed to ensure my plant-based diet against any deficiencies.
Now, I am not saying that those turned up to be useless and did not provide any value. The truth is, I don’t know. What I do know is that they did not insure my body against the disease. Yet, those supplements did cost me quite a bit.
The lesson here is, do not overestimate the power of good nutrition in your overall health. What plant-based diet can do is to help you to lose weight, get more energy, and yes, it can improve your physical health. What it can’t do though, is to ensure you against every disease on this planet.
This one was a big mind f*ck for me. I used to think that an optimal diet combined with my exercise routine will shield me against anything that life can throw at me. Now I can see how naive that belief was. What I learned over the past year is that proper nutrition and exercise are just two of several elements that are prerequisite for good health and wellbeing.
Discovering holistic health
In addition to healthy eating (that takes into account individual differences as discussed earlier) and exercise, other elements of health and wellbeing which I was able to pinpoint are: positive habits (inc. optimal sleep routine, work and rest habits, type of commute, etc), loving relationships, doing things you love, emotional health, and spirituality.
I used to struggle in most of these areas. It’s not that I ignored them, it’s just that my efforts to improve these domains of life were not consistent enough, and to make things worse I experienced several setbacks and internal conflicts.
Perhaps, we can neglect the majority of these areas and our bodies will manage to remain healthy for a certain number of years. But as one gets beyond their 20th, intense stress can weaken the immune system and make it easier for the illness to develop. Or, one could say that through physical symptoms the body makes intangible — tangible. The symptoms are messages from the person’s inner world.
If I had to pick only two elements out of the seven mentioned above, those would be emotional health and spirituality. As one of my Yogi friends put it, “Faith is your immune system”.
When you start to inquire about the nature of health beyond what modern healthcare tells us, you learn that the health of the body is a manifestation of the mindset. Therefore, to address the root of an illness an individual will need to work with emotions and faith.
Modern healthcare makes us foreigners to our bodies and minds
At one point I was shocked to realise that I know more about how computers and Internet work, than about how my body functions. As a society, we have given up our knowledge to heal ourselves naturally (along with personal power which it provides), in exchange for technology and pills that suppress pain but that does not increase our health.
Modern medicine can indeed do wonders. And I am grateful for all treatments I have received and medication that still supports my life. But, we got to rely on the healthcare system way too much. To a point where as individuals we feel helpless and unable to take care of ourselves. Often, we feel more capable to fix technology in our homes than to address minor issues in our bodies.
Yes, we can numb ourselves with a pill that temporarily hides the issue under the carpet. But such solutions come with consequences of remaining a foreigner to our bodies and minds. And then there are all the side effects of modern medicine. Both physical and mental. Modern medicine unintentionally supports psychological struggles by suppressing their physical symptoms.
Conclusions
When someone who doesn’t eat meat gets unwell, it’s very convenient for many to blame a vegetarian or vegan diet. They forget that it’s not only vegetarians who get sick. If this was the case, our doctors would have a very easy life indeed. But as far as I am aware, all the major illnesses which humanity has been struggling with in the 21st century are not linked to vegetarianism in any way. On the contrary, there are many stories of the healing power of plant-based diets.
However, I do believe that any major dietary change should be approached with great understanding and care. And as more people worldwide start to look into plant-based nutrition due to health, ethical, or environmental reasons, it becomes crucial that we collectively develop a holistic understanding of plant-based nutrition and health.
Hence, my hope is that the insights discussed in this series of articles will be helpful for those looking to make a transition to a healthier, less cruel, and more sustainable (both for humans and for the environment) plant-based diet.
Here is my advice (Part One) in a nutshell:
- Many of us would agree that objectivity in nutrition and health are hard to come by. But, luckily there is pragmatism. That means learning as much as you can before venturing into the practice. Learning before trying may save you from unnecessary pain (or even damage to your body). Once you have researched and considered several diverse perspectives, nuances, and risks, then by careful experiments you can find out what works for you. Once you found that, it will be your personal truth.
- Figure out what foods are best for your body, and what eating regime would be optimal. Take a food sensitivities test! Extend your diet change over months if not years, and embrace the basics of good nutrition. Make your plant-based nutrition last a lifetime.
- Take the ownership of your health and wellbeing. Do not outsource it entirely to a healthcare provider. Luckily, there are wonderful systems out there tested during thousands of years which can guide you. Yoga, Ayurveda, and Chinese medicine are the most comprehensive I know of. Both, for physical and mental health.
Call for feedback
I have written this advice as much for myself as for others. And I am learning as much as anyone. If you can see blind spots or mistakes in my thinking, please share it in the comments below. And of course, all thoughts and feedback are more than welcome.
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Disclaimer
In this article I share my personal experience. In no way does the information provided here represent the ultimate truth or the full picture. If you are seeking to understand how to transition to plant-based nutrition safely, I urge you to do your own extensive research in addition to reading this story.
Now, continue reading in Part Two for my key insights on vegan culture.
